Peter Singer's Discussion with SBF: Cryptocurrency Takes the Global Financial Stage
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Peter Singer's Discussion with SBF: Cryptocurrency Takes the Global Financial Stage
If there's a tank outside your bank, your bank account becomes far more vulnerable than you might think—so it's really cool that cryptocurrency provides an international financial lifeline.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Tim Hakki
Translation: TechFlow Intern
At Camp Ethereal this year—supported by Decrypt—Australian philosopher and animal rights activist Peter Singer sat down with FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for a one-on-one discussion covering a range of topics, from the Russia-Ukraine conflict to how cryptocurrency impacts the environment.
As an ethicist, Singer was keen to understand SBF’s views on the moral role of cryptocurrency in today’s world. He first raised concerns about the industry’s energy consumption.
SBF responded that reducing cryptocurrency's carbon emissions is “an absolute necessity,” and that current proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum are “unsustainable in the long run.”
He also explained to Singer that the alternative, proof-of-stake protocols, “effectively have zero environmental impact.”
“If we’re living in a world where increasingly more cryptocurrency is being used over time, then we’ll ultimately have to live in a world where most scaling happens through proof-of-stake systems—which cost very little energy—for environmental reasons,” SBF said, adding, “I think one of the lucky things is that this has to happen anyway, and there are strong economic incentives to solve the environmental issues here. I believe the way it will happen is that we’ll see most transactions taking place on proof-of-stake blockchains.”
A professor at Princeton University who has written and spoken extensively about altruism, Singer also wanted to know whether Russia could use cryptocurrency to evade sanctions, pointing out that with crypto, “one question often raised is whether it’s a way for criminal elements or black-market actors to move money around while avoiding detection, or for people trying to avoid paying taxes.”
SBF replied: “We’ve basically not seen Russia attempting to move funds via cryptocurrency. The fact that we haven’t seen this actually surprises me a bit.”
On the same topic, Singer and SBF discussed how much aid had been sent to Ukraine through cryptocurrency—“tens of millions so far via crypto,” noted SBF, adding, “It’s a cool example of doing this without involving bank accounts.”
Singer called this a “huge positive.” “If someone owns cryptocurrency and wants to donate part of it to charity, then this is a massive advantage,” he said.
SBF added that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine illustrates how underserved or unbanked populations can greatly benefit from increased financial access.
“If there’s a tank outside your bank,” the FTX CEO continued, “your bank account becomes significantly less useful than you might think. So I think it’s really cool to see cryptocurrency providing a lifeline to international finance.”
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